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Soldiers hold closing ceremony after weeks of training

YAKIMA, Wash. -- American and Japanese soldiers spent weeks working together at the Yakima Training Center. They held a closing ceremony to mark the end of the training operation on Tuesday.

20 years of Operation Rising Thunder is now in the books. Soldiers exchanged gifts and awards. They said improving the military relationship is important.

"By training together, working together and living together, we get better every day,” said Colonel Bill Burleson. “We do combined operations all over the world so we ought to train the way we're going to fight or operate together."

800 Americans and 500 Japanese soldiers took part in this year's Operation Rising Thunder.